Opera-University

Discovery programs based on the Paris Opera’s programme.

Project

Opera University offers all students, whatever their field of study, the chance to discover opera and ballet around works scheduled at the Paris Opera. These à la carte courses help them to understand the processes underlying opera and ballet production. They bring added value to discussions of the various works between students following different curricula, whilst providing new insights and perspectives.

Over the last decade, nearly 400 higher education institutions (universities, high schools, colleges, art schools, student associations and groups...), representing more than 12,200 students, have participated in the activities initiated by the Paris Opera’s Opera University. Henceforth more than 2000 students come each season to discover both the Paris Opera and opera in general.

^{Picture: Projet C.O.D.E Opéra Garnier 2075 – Pauline Ah-Fa, Gabrielle Gbaguidi, Colette Herry, Guillaume Leroux - Ecole de Condé -MDGRI/Master Design Global Recherche et Innovation}

Tailor-made paths

Tailor-made in tandem with teachers and designed for groups of 20 to 40 students. The courses include, for the productions concerned:

Access to the final stage rehearsals
Backstage visits of both theatres, scenery and costume workshops
Encounters with artists along with artistic, technical or administrative staff according to the curriculum. Our primary aim is to encourage dialogue and foster comprehension.
Privileged access to the production (operas €25 euros, ballets €15 euros , concerts and avant-premières €10)

Specifics projects

Some specific projects, in line with the works studied and the different classes followed by the students, have been elaborated with academic teachers: round tables, concerts-meetings, online exhibitions, digital projects…

PROJECTS FOR THE 2025-26 SEASON:

SEPTEMBER 2025

Corybantic Games – Themes and Variations: Christopher Wheeldon–Balanchine: the lineage of an athletic abstraction.

Meeting with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon

Maria and Marjorie Tallchief: the first Native American ballerinas at the Paris Opera – Screening of the documentary: *Maria Tallchief – America’s First Prima Ballerina*, by Sandra Osawa

NOVEMBER 2025

Die Walküre – Wagnerian orchestration – Organological inventiveness: the Wagner tuba – Round table

DECEMBER 2025

O złożony/O composite – avant-garde and postmodern dance

Laurie Anderson (1947), Trisha Brown (1936–2017), Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008): the New York art scene of the 1970s.

Minimalist music, a privileged partner for dance.

JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2026

Eugene Onegin: from actor to stage director.
British actor Ralph Fiennes, who played Onegin, the title role in Martha Fiennes’ 2000 film, is directing Tchaikovsky’s opera this season.

JANUARY 2026

Siegfried, a character with a tormented destiny, a challenge for stage directors.

FEBRUARY–APRIL 2026

2026 Nixon in China – Satyagraha: John Adams, Philip Glass.
Philip Glass (1937) – Laurie Anderson (1947) – John Adams (1947): American minimalist music.

APRIL 2026

Nixon in China – Satyagraha. From electronic music to artificial intelligence

MAY 2026

Ercole amante – Antonia Bembo, a Venetian Baroque composer whose work blends Italian and French styles.

Lecture and recital of cantatas and instrumental pieces.

JUNE–JULY 2026

Micaela Taylor, *Dreams this Way*: how do new forms of dance take shape in a society in transition?

Trained in ballet and hip-hop, Micaela Taylor has created her own technique, Expand Practice, an off-beat style of exaggerated facial expressions, gestures, and athletic theatricality.

How to register

Do you wish to bring students to follow Opéra&Université courses at the Paris Opera?

Send us your application and together we will devise a course adapted to your students' curriculum.
By mail: opera-universite@operadeparis.fr
By phone: 01 40 01 19 17